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Trump DOJ sharply rebuked by judge after seizing reporter's devices: 'Fox in the henhouse'
I am glad that the court rejected the search of this reporter's devices
A Virginia federal judge delivered a sharp rebuke to the Justice Department on Tuesday, refusing to let prosecutors search through a Washington Post reporter's seized electronics and taking control of the operation himself.
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-24T23:55:09.449Z
https://www.rawstory.com/washington-post-trump-2675328550
A Virginia federal judge delivered a sharp rebuke to the Justice Department on Tuesday, refusing to let prosecutors search through a Washington Post reporter's seized electronics and taking control of the operation himself.
Magistrate Judge William Porter didn't mince words over the handing over of devices to government investigators.
“Given the documented reporting on government leak investigations and the government’s well chronicled efforts to stop them, allowing the government’s filter team to search a reporter’s work product — most of which consists of unrelated information from confidential sources — is the equivalent of leaving the government’s fox in charge of the Washington Post’s henhouse,” Porter wrote, according to The Washington Post.
The judge feared Trump's Justice Department couldn't be trusted to conduct a narrow search without exposing more than 1,000 of reporter Hannah Natanson's confidential sources.
The decision represented a major victory for the newspaper and Natanson after federal agents conducted an unprecedented January raid on her Virginia home, seizing phones, laptops, a recorder, hard drive, and even a Garmin watch. Law enforcement claimed the search targeted a government contractor suspected of leaking classified information.
Magistrate Judge William Porter didn't mince words over the handing over of devices to government investigators.
“Given the documented reporting on government leak investigations and the government’s well chronicled efforts to stop them, allowing the government’s filter team to search a reporter’s work product — most of which consists of unrelated information from confidential sources — is the equivalent of leaving the government’s fox in charge of the Washington Post’s henhouse,” Porter wrote, according to The Washington Post.
The judge feared Trump's Justice Department couldn't be trusted to conduct a narrow search without exposing more than 1,000 of reporter Hannah Natanson's confidential sources.
The decision represented a major victory for the newspaper and Natanson after federal agents conducted an unprecedented January raid on her Virginia home, seizing phones, laptops, a recorder, hard drive, and even a Garmin watch. Law enforcement claimed the search targeted a government contractor suspected of leaking classified information.